Bluff with friends

This past weekend I went out with two friends I recently met through a hiking Facebook group to do an overnight on the bluff. One was Jayson, who I did an overnight with last weekend, and then Mercury who is an avid hiker but new to overnights. I really wanted to get the entire trail in again before I left since my last time there solo wasn't an overall positive experience. The last time I did all four loops, I was alone and it left me feeling really spooked. So I wanted to go with people and leave my memories of the trail on a more positive note.

We contemplated an early start but since I knew how long it would take us we didn't feel it was necessary and met there at 9AM. Once again, this was a totally different experience than when I went along since we ran into a lot of people on the trail. I always enjoy a trail chitchat, most are usually impressed to see the bags and hear we’re camping out. I find most also say how they wish they could do that too, and I always tell them to do it.

It took about five hours of hiking, with a little over an hour of breaks to get to the campsite. We were a little slow on the third loop because there were so many blueberries we could not stop ourselves from picking them.

I think the majority of our breaks were on the last loop because there is very little shade and it was getting hot. Whenever we had a little bit of shade we would sit down for 5 minutes or so just to cool down.

This meant we got to camp around 3 PM, a quick set up of our hammocks, and tent and then we went into the lake. The lake has a lot of boulders and it’s kind of hard to walk on them with the algae. We also didn’t really know when it gets deep, as I've never made it out far there. We walked out until we could sit on some large boulders that were semi immersed and chatted to get to know each other. I ended up tripping on the way out of the lake and ripped a huge chunk of my toenail off. It could’ve been worse but it’s not exactly comfortable right now.  I'm hoping it heals fast so it doesn't interfere with my hiking in Newfoundland.

We all have varying degrees of hiking and back country skills so our talks were a lot of picking each other‘s brains, and about what we would love to do. Jayson and I both have the goal of doing the Appalachian trail one day so that is something we discuss a lot of. I really don't think I'd want to dive into a trail like that alone but I definitely don't think I'd find someone to commit to that. Jayson, when he lived in Montreal, spent some time doing day hikes there and met a lot of thru hikers. He encouraged me to consider doing it along because I will meet so many amazing people along my journey.

One of my big concerns when I hike the East Coast Trail is food. Most backpacking meals are around 15$, you can find some cheaper ones but a lot are also geared to couples. Most meals have two servings in them which makes me going alone a little more complicated. It doesn't appeal to me to spend hundreds on food that I'm just going to shovel in as fast as I can at the end of the day. My dad really likes to make gourmet meals while canoe camping, and I do see the appeal of that. It's nice when you're in a group to have a social leisurely dinner. However, I'm going alone so I'll be tired and ready for bed by the time I set up camp. I imagine I'll eat my meal pretty fast, especially because I'm always super hungry after a day of hiking.

This has led me to playing around with trying to make my own version of ramen noodles. There isn't a lot of nutritional value in ramen noodles, although there are a lot of flavors and a huge variety. They'll also take up a lot of space in my bag and I'd have a lot of garbage. I would really like to do a more low waste backpacking trip as well. Most hikers really take Leave No Trace seriously but I would love to take that beyond just when I’m on the trail. Being sustainable and making ethical choices is something I'm trying to implement in my daily life. This week I dehydrated peppers, and onions then I mixed that with some vegetable broth, Sriracha powder, chili flakes and rice noodles. It turned out pretty delicious and I do hope I can bring something like that on the ECT with me.

I'm getting more used to the hammock and I think this was my best night of sleep in it. However, I think the foot end was a little too low so I slid down into the tapered part. The combination of my injured toe and it being a bit chillier meant I kept waking up with cold & sore feet. I had been hoping I could take my summer sleeping bag on my trip for the ECT. However, I don’t think It'll be warm enough, it’s only rated to zero. I do have another bag that’s rated better but it packs quite a bit bigger. I think it will be worth it to take it though since I'm already feeling chilly.

Going off my conversations with Jayson and Mercury this trip, if you could do any hiking trail, which one? 

The current ones I would love to do are the Appalachian and the Camino De Santiago. I don't think any are in my near future and I could change my mind but the more I delve into the backpacking community the more they come up and pique my interest.